Boot for pipe pile



8" 1967 J. J. DOUGHERTY 3,333,430

BOOT FOR PIPE FILE Filed April 27, 1965 INVENTOR. JOHN J Dou GHER TYHTTORNEY United States Patent 3,333,430 BOOT FOR PIPE FILE John J.Dougherty, Cedar Grove, NJ. (262 Rutherford Blvd, Clifton, NJ. 07014Filed Apr. 27, 1965, Ser. No. 451,209 1 Claim. (Cl. 61-53) ABSTRACT OFTHE DISCLOSURE A boot for a pipe pile having a steel dish-shaped bodywith a fiat bottom and an annular upstanding side wall, a skirt portiondepending downwardly from the body and formed with a circular knifeedge, reinforcing radial ribs extending from the body and the skirtportion to the center where they meet, the meeting edges being pointed,the ribs having knife edges along their outer long edges.

This invention relates to piling and more particularly to an improvedboot for a pipe pile.

Files are used to support or to form foundations for structures, such asbuildings, tanks, bridges, conduits, piers, wharves and the like bydriving them into or through the yielding surface strata far enough toobtain a solid support for the principal structure. In driving pipepiles for foundations, the ordinary practice is to depend upon frictionbetween the exterior surface of the pile and the soil through which thepile passes to develop its bearing power or supporting power. Thestresses in the earth during such operations are concentrated around thepile.

A principal object of the present invention is to produce a pipe pilewhich will assure firm lateral earth support for the pipe, in which theaccumulation of a core of earth in the pipe is prevented and thereforethe removal of earth is obviated, and in which the driving edge of thepipe pile is protected against damage.

Another object of the invention is to provide a boot for a shell or pipepile that will break up, crush or force aside boulders or otherobstructions encountered during the driving operation, causing thedisplaced earth to consolidate around the pipe pile, therebystrengthening the earth wall and affording a lateral stability to thepile in its function as a supporting column.

Another object of the invention is to provide a boot for a pipe pilethat increases the tip area of the pile.

A further object is to provide a boot for a pipe pile that has theeffect of a punch and drill when the pile is being driven therebydriving the pile straight down thus preventing doglegging or oifcenterdriving and being very effective in breaking hard rock.

Yet another object of the invention is to provide a boot for the end ofa pipe pile for augmenting the supporting power of the pile so that itwill function as a combined friction and end bearing foundation pile.

Still another object is to provide an improved boot of this type that isespecially well adapted to withstand both tensional and compressionallongitudinal forces as well as lateral stresses.

For further comprehension of the invention and of the objects andadvantages thereof reference will be had to the following descriptionand accompanying drawings and to the appended claim wherein the novelfeatures are more particularly set forth.

In the accompanying drawings forming a material part of this disclosure:

FIG. 1 is a vertical sectional View of a boot for a pipe pile throughthe center thereof shown applied to the bottom of a pipe pile, taken online 1--1 of FIG. 2.

FIG. 2 is a bottom plan view thereof.

3,333,430- Patented Aug. 1, 1967 FIG. 3 is a crosssectional view takenon the line 3--3 of FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken on the line 4-4 of FIG. 2.

FIG. 5 is a view similar to FIG. 2 of a boot embodying a modified formof the invention.

Referring now in detail to the various views of the drawing, a boot fora pipe pile 10 made in accordance with one form of the invention isshown in FIG. 1 and is designated generally by the reference numeral 12.The boot 12 made of cast steel alloy and is a unitary structurecomprising a circular shallow dish-shaped body with a flat bottom 14 andan annular side wall 16 extending upwardly. The under surface of thebottom 14 tapers downwardly and outwardly as indicated at 18 from apoint closely spaced inwardly from the periphery thereof to saidperiphery forming an enlargement 20. A skirt portion 22 dependsdownwardly from the enlargement. The inner surface of the skirt portiontapers downwardly and outwardly slightly, and the end edge of the skirtportion tapers slightly downwardly and outwardly from the inner surfaceof the outer surface of the skirt portion, forming a knife edge 24. Theenlarged portion 20 of the body is formed with an outer flat annularshoulder 26 having a beveled corner 28.

The body of the boot 12 is inserted into the open end of the pipe pileIt), with its shoulder 26 contacting the fiat bottom end edge of thepile, and is fastened to the bottom end edge of the pile by welding asindicated at 30.

In accordance with the present invention four radial walls or ribs 32reinforce and strengthen the body, extending from the tapered enlargedportion 20 and from the skirt portion 22 at the periphery of the body tothe center of the body, said walls or ribs being spaced degrees apart sothat they are in end-to-end relation at the center as best seen in FIG.2. The opposed side surface of the walls or ribs taper slightlyoutwardly toward the outer edges thereof as indicated at 34. At thecenter, the Walls or ribs form a curved hub portion 36 which reinforcethe center of the body. The outer edges of the walls or ribs taperdownwardly and outwardly from the plane of the edge of the skirt portion22 to the center of the body. The outer end edges of the walls or ribsare tapered to a knife edge 38, and the inner ends of said outer endedges are pointed and contact each other forming mitre joints it].

In operation, when the pile with the boot thereon is driven, the knifeedges 38 on the outer ends of the ribs 32 initially penetrate the groundfollowed by the ribs and then the skirt 22. The ribs serve as a drillpenetrating heavy layers of dense material such as coarse sand, hardpanor decomposed rock. Boulders depending upon their size and the materialupon which they rest are usually crushed or broken or pushed aside bythe boot, and hard rock is penetrated.

In FIG. 5, a modified form of boot 12' is shown. The boot 12 differsfrom the boot 12 in that five walls or ribs 32 are shown spacedequidistantly around the body of the boot. In all other respects, theboot 12' is similar to boot 12 and similar reference numerals are usedto indicate similar parts.

While I have illustrated and described the preferred embodiments of myinvention, it is to be understood that changes in details ofconstruction might be made without departing from the principle of theinvention and I desire therefore to be limited only by the state of theprior art and the appended claim.

I claim:

A boot for a pipe pile comprising a dish-shaped body of cast steel alloywith a flat bottom and an annular side wall extending upwardly, theunder surface of the bot tom tapering downwardly and outwardly formingan enlargement, a skirt portion depending downwardly from theenlargement, said skirt portion terminating in a circular knife edge, aplurality of radial ribs reinforcing the body and extending from thetapered enlarged portion and from the skirt portion at the periphery ofthe body to the center of the body, the outer edges of the ribs taperingto a knife edge, the inner adjacent ends of the outer end edges of theribs being pointed and contacting each other forming mitre joints, saidend edges disposed generally in the plane of the bottom edge of theUNITED STATES PATENTS 1,884,686 10/1932 Hilpert 6l-60 2,562,860 7/1951Cobi 6153 2,874,547 2/1959 Fiori et a1. 61-53 DAVID J. WILLIAMOWSKY,Primary Examiner.

JACOB SHAPIRO, Assistant Examiner.

